I don't know why, but I have an image of Gabriel Agreste dressed up as Ladybug and I can't get it out of my head, help…

On a different story of mine, a reviewer suggested I include an extremely brief summary of the story so far, since I tend to update sporadically and I don't want to throw you through the trouble of rereading everything.

Hope you guys are having a miraculous week!

The Story So Far:
Chloe has discovered Adrien's secret double life as Chat Noir. Adrien isn't sure how to deal with the discovery, and turns to Ladybug for support. At school on Monday, another akuma attacks, and Chloe cheers Adrien on. Chat Noir tells Ladybug that Chloe was the one who discovered his secret. When he returns, Chloe pulls Adrien into the classroom and announces that they are dating.

Chapter 3

The classroom was deathly silent as the students tried to process what had just dropped from Chloe's mouth. Everyone knew that she wanted to properly date the famous model, going so far as to sabotage the class short film in order to kiss him, but she had never before explicitly stated that she was until that exact moment. Everyone, even Adrien himself, was trying all at once to figure out if she was joking or not.

Chloe smirked up at him, and Adrien realized that, in fact, she was not joking. It was clear as day in her eyes: date me, or your secret's out. A pained expression flashed across his face; he was trapped. He didn't know what he had been expecting as payment for her silence, but he should have seen something like this coming. He looked back at the faces of his classmates, anywhere but Chloe's triumphant expression.

Nino's jaw had dropped somewhere on the floor, his eyes bugging from his head. The dark-skinned boy knew better than anyone how much Adrien didn't like Chloe, and his brain was probably short-circuiting at the news. Adrien's gaze moved to directly behind him, where Alya and Marinette sat. Alya's expression was shocked, but oddly she was casting worried glances over at her friend.

Marinette had been staring at Chloe when they had entered the classroom, an almost murderous expression on her face, calculating eyes narrowed as if she were trying to fire lasers from her eyes and burn Chloe to a crisp. At Chloe's announcement, however, she had gone pale as a ghost, her eyebrows furrowed and mouth curled into an open frown as she tried to process. Of the classroom, Marinette seemed the most disturbed by this news, the others simply exchanging doubtful glances or looking confusedly at him.

Chloe elbowed him in the side after a few seconds of silence passed. "Oh, uh…" Adrien coughed, already regretting the words out of his mouth. He plastered on one of the fake smiles he had mastered over years of practice. "Chloe's telling the truth."

For good measure, Chloe pressed her lips to his cheek, earning gasps from the room. While she had done this before, it hadn't bothered Adrien until now. His skin burned painfully where she touched him, and not the fun, sexy type of burn. He was walking on hot coals and just fell face-first.

From his peripheral, the blonde boy could see Nino almost fall out of his chair, and Alya moved to put her arm around Marinette who, unless he was mistaken, looked like she was trying not to cry. Even the teacher seemed surprised, used to the distant relationship shared between he and Chloe.

The silence remained, but this time it seemed utter surprise and disbelief rather than confusion. Adrien tried not to let it faze him, and continued to wear the mask of a happy teenage boy, underneath trying not to die.

"Oh, well, uh, congratulations," Mrs. Bonnaire said, regaining control of her classroom. "Please take your seats."

Adrien moved to take his usual spot next to Nino, but Chloe refused to relinquish her hold on his arm. She pulled him across the aisle, and evicted Sabrina from her chair. Sabrina probably couldn't decide whether or not to be excited for her "friend" or feel betrayed that she had been replaced with a boy. With a sad sigh, she sat next to Nino as Chloe pushed Adrien into Sabrina's old chair before taking her normal seat.

Adrien exchanged sorry glances with Nino, who was miming an order to text him later.

Adrien found it impossible to concentrate on the class that day. Chloe refused to release his arm and spent the hour whispering in his ear. The only thing to occupy his thoughts was Ladybug. He was a taken cat… pulled off the streets and house-trained. Tied down to the one person he had vowed never to acknowledge as anything more than a past acquaintance; Chloe had made it explicitly clear over their time growing up together that she would do no good for him, even if his father disagreed.

Ladybug… could he tell her the truth? He knew that she didn't see him as anymore than a trusted friend and partner, but somehow Adrien couldn't muster the resolve to confess to his love Chloe's price for his privacy. It would mean he was off the market. Even if Adrien was keen on dating Chloe (which he wasn't), he wasn't so low as to resort to cheating and lying. His guilty conscious was far too strong for that. So what would he tell her?

"Alright, read chapter eight by tomorrow, and complete the questions at the end of the chapter. Have a great day."

Mrs. Bonnaire dismissed her class for the day. Adrien barely had time to pack his bag before Chloe had him by the arm and dragged him from the class.

"Chloe, let go, I can walk on my own," Adrien protested.

"No way," Chloe huffed. "If you don't want me to let the cat out of the bag – Ooh~ did you see what I did there!? – then you have to do what I say. And the first qualification of being my boyfriend is stop hanging out with those losers."

Adrien's gaze hardened. "Nino's not a loser."

Chloe stopped on the stairs leading down to the wide gym area, glaring up at him from the step below. "You are so much better than they are, Adrien, why can't you see that? Someone like you and me shouldn't even give those peasants the time of day."

"Peasants?"

Chloe either didn't seem to catch his indignant reaction to her choice of vocabulary, or she didn't care. Grabbing his hand, she made extra sure to entwine their fingers before taking off down the stairs again. For about the millionth time that day, Adrien cursed his traitorous bad luck.

Both Adrien's and Chloe's drivers were waiting for them outside the school. Chloe waved away hers and steered them towards the Gorilla, who eyed the new "couple" with what Adrien detected as surprise, skepticism, or a simple knowing. It was hard to tell with his stoic expression. "Adri-kins is taking me home today," Chloe told the Gorilla, tapping her foot expectantly.

Adrien had established with the Gorilla that he was capable of opening doors on his own, and insisted that he not be treated like the royalty he wasn't. Chloe was growing impatient, waiting for the Gorilla to open the door for her, so Adrien just sighed and grabbed the handle.

Chloe looked horrified that Adrien opened his own doors, but thankfully didn't raise a fuss about it. She climbed inside, still refusing to relinquish her grasp on her new beau. Adrien looked over his shoulder, mournfully watching as Nino and Alya exited the building with little Marinette trailing behind, all three of them watching him worriedly. Adrien gave a mournful wave before he was pulled inside the limo and the door shut. He grimaced at the metaphor, a door closing on the life he had fought his father so hard to obtain, now trapped in a one-sided relationship where he couldn't curse a cat without getting fur in his mouth.

As the limo pulled away from the curb, Chloe began rattling of her list of expectations for him as her boyfriend. Adrien leaned his elbow against the armrest and laid his cheek against his palm, blinking tiredly as he stared out the window at the passing city, not unused to unreasonable expectations thrust into his lap. The thought of more restrictions made him sick. Usually Chat Noir was his outlet from such things, but now, Chloe was tightening the new collar around his neck, and he was suffocating.

"I don't want you even thinking about other girls," Chloe was saying, scrolling absentmindedly through her phone. "Especially not those tramps Marinette and Alya. They're beneath you."

Adrien's fist clenched, but he dared not object.

"And I expect to be taken out on dates at least twice a week." Chloe continued, twisted excitement bleeding through her obsessive tone.

"Providing that I don't have to do my job," Adrien sighed into his palm.

Chloe looked at him sharply through her eyelashes. "Job?"

Adrien met her gaze, just as sharply. "I'm still Cha…" his eyes flicked to where the Gorilla sat a couple feet away. "You seem to forget the only reason I'm agreeing to this, Chloe. If duty calls, I have to go."

Chloe huffed. "In that case, you can't flirt with Ladybug. You're with me, now. Other girls are completely off limits."

Adrien was not pleased with this development, but once again, could not object. He wasn't going to let her know just how deeply his feelings for Ladybug ran. It wasn't like she would be watching him 24/7, though he wouldn't put it past her to sneak a tracking and/or listening device into his pocket. He only had to deal with this for a little while, until he could delete the video and other copies she may have. Besides, who was she to try and reign in this alley cat? Those who tried to train cats could tell anyone it was a fool's errand.

Chloe idolized Ladybug, cosplayed as her, and had even shown off her merchandise to Adrien during a dinner meeting when their respective fathers discussed whatever adults discuss. Adrien couldn't help but wonder if his new "girlfriend" had ulterior motives breaking off the relationship between himself and Ladybug.

"Speaking of Ladybug," Chloe continued, her voice suddenly excited. "Who is she in real life? You have to know. We're best friends but I don't know why she won't tell me."

Adrien snorted through his nose. "I don't know who she is, and she doesn't know who I am. And she doesn't consider you a friend."

He tuned out whatever Chloe began ranting about and continued to watch the streets of Paris fly past the window, lost in his jumbled and emotionally strained thoughts. When the limo finally pulled up in front of Chloe's house, he made no move to escort her to the door. It was the little things he could do to express his displeasure. Maybe he could knock a few random things off her shelves for no reason? He'd found sadistic pleasure in that, recently. It was a great stress reliever. Absentmindedly, he wondered what objects on his shelves could be knocked to the floor without damage when he returned home.

Chloe, still miffed about his uncooperative manner in the Ladybug Identity Rant, eventually realized she wasn't going to get anything out of him, and pressed a kiss to his unresponsive cheek before throwing open the car door and storming up the steps. She wiggled her fingers at him in a sensual wave, and he dipped his own in polite acknowledgement before giving the Gorilla the okay to head home.

.o0o.

Patrol was quiet that night. Chat Noir roamed across the rooftops, bright green eyes scanning the darkness for any akuma activity, but his mind was elsewhere.

He had agreed to meet Ladybug at their normal spot above the Eiffel Tower observation deck at around midnight, but Adrien was restless, and ended up starting his patrol two hours early much to Plagg's chagrin. But the small kwami understood that his boy had a lot on his mind, and didn't complain too loudly. Chat had traveled his usual route at least three times by now, but however hard his mind tried to stay focused on his duty as Paris's hero, his thoughts kept slipping to Chloe and Ladybug.

What was he supposed to tell his partner? She had demanded the truth over their brief phone call earlier, and he knew that whatever lie he told her, she'd see right through it. Adrien – and through him, Chat – wasn't a good liar. But he also didn't want to tell her that he was being forced into an unhealthy relationship to keep his secret, because then she would worry about him, and he hated being the cause of her frown. It was something he had to deal with on his own, since it was his secret and Chloe was his classmate and… ugh, his girlfriend.

Chat couldn't put Ladybug through that, having her constantly worry about him. Though, he would admit, having her thinking about him all the time was one of his goals in his quest to make her fall for him. Though… he hadn't imagined her thinking about him like this. With a bound, Chat landed in a rolling crouch thirty minutes before their meeting time, keeping stock still on the edge of the observation deck. His form was still as a gargoyle; the only sign of life being the occasional flick of his tail or a dart of the eyes as his scanned the Parisian skyline.

"Chat?"

He nodded his head and stood to full height, hands relaxed on his hips. "Hi, Ladybug."

She came up to stand next to him, looking at her partner closely. Chat kept his face level and didn't meet her gaze. As much as it pained him, he wasn't going to risk the presence of a recording device and in turn incite Chloe's vengeance.

"What, no flirty banter today?" Ladybug asked teasingly, though he could detect a sadness in her tone.

Chat's eyes found interest in his silver-toed boots. He struggled to find words to say, but the only thing past his lips was the truth. After all his worrying, he still couldn't bring himself to lie to his Lady. "Other girls are off-limits," he muttered. "No flirting with Ladybug."

She cocked an eyebrow, clearly confused as to what her partner was getting at. "What are you talking about?"

Chat let out a sigh. "It's one of the conditions of keeping the secret. I'm not allowed to flirt with you anymore. Chat Noir is strictly business, now."

Ladybug was taken aback, literally stepping away from him as she noticed their sudden proximity. "Really?"

"That's not all," Chat winced. "I have to take her on dates. I can't hang out with my normal friends. If this is what being a boyfriend is like, I don't like it."

Ladybug choked. Chat looked over at her in concern, and was quick to notice that his partner had gone a paler shade, hands rising to her mouth in astonishment. "B-boyfriend?" she stuttered uncharacteristically.

"Yeah." Chat noticed the stutter but it didn't seem to register with him as he settled on the edge of the deck and let his feet hang over the precipice. Shoulders visibly slumped as he rested his chin in his propped hand and stared blankly into nothing. "If I don't want Chloe releasing my identity video, I have to date her."

His ears picked up the sound of a sharp inhale, and bright green eyes glanced at Ladybug. He started in surprise to see her reaction, picking his head up from its resting spot and shifting to get a better look. Gone was the cool, calm, and collected Ladybug. In her place was an uncharacteristic mess of a girl. She had stumbled a couple more steps backward, blue eyes widened considerably behind her mask. Hands trembled over an open mouth, though he could see she was trying to hide her obvious and over-the-top reaction. "B-boyfriend… you…" she said, almost subconsciously.

He inclined his head. This was almost… too reactive. He'd been expecting surprise, comfort, anger, but this… this was downright shock, for lack of a better term. He didn't dislike it, and he admitted to himself that it was refreshing to see his Lady display a different side of her personality in his presence. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

She seemed to get a grip on herself and regained composure, releasing a deep, calming breath and settling down next to him. "I should be asking you that," she said, voice still shaking slightly but whether from anger or surprise, Chat couldn't tell. "Dating a menace like Chloe."

"I'll manage." Chat didn't dare mention his undeveloped plan to delete the evidence. Couldn't have Chloe catching on. He was a cautious cat on a hot tin roof.

Ladybug rested a hesitant hand on his shoulder, a quiet consolation. He appreciated the gesture, and he suddenly reached over and wrapped his partner into a hug, burying his face into her shoulder. She didn't protest, and let him hold her for strength in his predicament. He loved that about her. Even when she dismissed his flirtatious advances, she knew when he just needed a strong pillar of strength. They remained that way for several long minutes until he finally pulled away, recharged and ready to fight back.

He smiled at her, and she smiled back. "I'm not going to just stand by and let you do this on your own," Ladybug said, determined. "You're my partner, and we take care of each other."

"But it's my secret…"

"You'd do the same if my identity was in danger, and you know it. So let me help you."

Chat knew she was right. This situation was much more precarious than Lady Wifi, and Chloe wasn't even akumatized; her memory wouldn't go away with a wave of Miraculous Cure. "Okay," he said finally. "But wait until I think it's the right moment."

Ladybug trusted him. He trusted Ladybug. "Deal."

When Adrien returned home that night, he found forty-six texts and fourteen missed calls from Chloe.

.o0o.

I looked up a giant list of cat-themed idioms, euphemisms, and puns. You have been warned.

This chapter was a bit longer than the previous two, and I hope that the following chapters continue to be this way. I've been trying to convey a slightly rebellious and not-completely-submitted Adrien/Chat Noir here; I just don't think Adrien/Chat Noir would so easily submit to blackmail. So let me know how I did and if it seems too weird or OOC.

Anyway, good luck with those going back to school!

Cheers, 1004-Angel